Asia enters new era in digital audio service
Asia enters new era in digital audio service
A group of Indonesian journalists were invited by WorldSpace
Corp. to witness the live broadcast in Singapore recently of the
launch of its digital satellite in Kourou, French Guiana. The
following is a report from The Jakarta Post's Hyginus Hardoyo.
SINGAPORE (JP): Asia is entering a new era in digital audio
service due to the successful launch of the AsiaStar satellite
owned by U.S.-based WorldSpace Corp.
The US$250 million satellite, which was launched aboard an
Arianespace Ariane-5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana, is
capable of providing a totally new medium -- digital broadcast of
audio programs directly from satellites to compact, portable
receivers, Michael Whitener, the managing director of WorldSpace
Asia, said.
Speaking at a news conference in Singapore on March 22 after
witnessing the live broadcast of the satellite launch, Whitener
said the satellite system would be able to serve remote areas
that are unreachable by existing technology.
"The AsiaStar will cover most of Asia, including China, India,
Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand," he said.
The satellite is providing more than 50 channels of crystal
clear digital audio programming transmitted directly into
portable receivers containing small built-in 10-centimeter (four-
inch) dish antennas, he added.
Whitener said commercial operation of AsiaStar, which would
reach its final geostationary orbital position in early April,
was expected to start by June.
The content providers of AsiaStar consist of international
broadcasters, including Bloomberg, British Broadcasting Corp.,
Cable News Network and World Radio Network, Whitener said, adding
that negotiations with other regional broadcasters were being
worked out.
Endy Sabaruddin, the managing director of WorldSpace
Indonesia, told The Jakarta Post that several Indonesian
broadcasters, including state-owned radio broadcasting company
RRI, PT Mediacitra Indostar and Masima Corporation, had expressed
interest in leasing satellite space to help broaden the coverage
of their digital audio service.
The service will grow steadily in Indonesia as the technology
was suitable for people living in remote areas, especially those
working at mining, logging or offshore drilling sites, he said.
"It is also suitable for fishermen as they can just put
antennas of the transportable receivers out on their boats to
catch the satellite's signals," he said.
The receivers can be used indoors or outdoors, but the
antennas must have a clear view of the sky and be aimed in the
direction of the satellite, he said.
Endy explained that a receiver requires about the same amount
of power as a conventional radio and it may be powered by AC
current or batteries.
In remote areas where electricity is not available, the
radio's energy consumption can be powered by a solar panel, he
said.
The receivers are manufactured by four Japanese companies --
JVC Corp., Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd., Matsushita Electric and
Hitachi Ltd. -- and are priced between $250 and $400, Endy said.
When the system is fully operational, it is expected to open
up a market with an abundant amount of potential. The prices are
expected to steadily decline in line with economies of scale and
further technological advancements.
Endy expressed confidence that he would be able to sell about
150,000 receivers in the first year from the start of the
satellite commercial operation.
Besides the population living in remote areas, the high target
was also expected from a large number of Indonesian workers
overseas, mainly the Middle East, who long for any news, music or
entertainment broadcasts from their country of origin.
Patrianto Godam, president of Masima Corporation, said that
utilizing the technology would expand the local broadcasters'
coverage to not only the national, but also the international
level as well.
A broadcaster that was previously limited to a terrestrial
area is billed to be able to now reach 14 million square
kilometers of area by delivering its signal via satellite.
Worldspace digital satellite system uses the 1467-1492 MHz
segment of the "L-band" spectrum, which was allocated for digital
audio broadcasting at the World Administrative Radiocommunication
Conference in 1992.
"Our company is in the process of negotiating to lease part of
the slots of the satellite," said the executive whose company
manages several local broadcasters, including Prambors and Female
Radio.
The problem is that big cities in Indonesia already have a
wide selection of radio channels, which can be monitored by
conventional radios that are a much cheaper price.
However, WorldSpace, which was founded in 1990, assured that
it was not competing with terrestrial radio, but was instead
enhancing it.
Headquartered in Washington, WorldSpace is now also working on
technology that will allow the satellite to provide multimedia
programming.
"What we are working on currently is a personal computer (PC)
card that will fit directly into a computer and be able to
directly receive multimedia service, with content ranging from
financial news, health information to weather reports," Whitener
said.
He said at present an adapter was needed between a receiver
and PC to receive satellite transmissions.
WorldSpace has one other satellite -- the AfriStar -- which
covers Africa and the Middle East and has been in operation since
October last year. They will launch another for the Latin
American region in the first half of 2001.
AfriStar has had over 30 content providers with programming
available in various languages, ranging from English, French,
Arabic, Swahili to Spanish.
When the system is fully operational, the three satellites are
expected to provide service to a potential audience of more than
4 billion people, including Asians.
With such a service people in developing regions (Asia, Africa
and Latin America), who mostly have limited access to
information, can have more alternatives to choose news, education
or entertainment programs that will enrich their lives, the firm
claimed.